On the corner of Jackson and Ninth, the weeds and grasses are 5 feet tall. The Pacific Boulevard overpass is in the background.
Will the three empty lots owned by the City of Albany at Jackson Street and Ninth Avenue ever find a use other than growing weeds?
Who knows. But city council members who refused to sell the lots last year gave no sign they had changed their minds when they had a chance to do so Wednesday night.
The lots are at and near the corner of Jackson Street and Ninth Avenue. Two of the lots are across Jackson Street from Van Vleet Meat and Food Service Co.
Van Vleet wants to buy the lots for parking so it can expand its business operations. Last summer, the company offered to buy the properties for $125,000, the highest of three bids.
But four members of the council, Steph Newton, Carolyn McLeod, Chris Van Drimmelen and Michael Thomson, voted not to sell at that price. They wanted at least $145,000, which an appraiser told the city the lots were worth.
In remarks just before the end of Wednesday’s council meeting, City Manager Peter Troedsson said that upkeep of the lots was costing the city $2,000 a year. He also mentioned that the offer by Van Vleet was still on the table.
But no one on the council said anything in response, and the meeting was adjourned.
After watching the meeting on Zoom, I took a quick bike ride to Jackson and Ninth. (Let’s all be grateful for the extra long evenings of daylight in June.)
The lots looked even more untended than they were on May 2, when I reported here how overgrown they were.
On Wednesday night the weeds were even higher than last month. When the city manager mentioned maintenance expense, he evidently was talking about costs that had not yet been racked up. (hh)
P.S.: Council member Marilyn Smith pointed out to me that two of the four no-sale votes last year (Newton and Van Drimmelen)Â missed Wednesday’s meeting because of work obligations. Smith said the issue would come up again when all council members are present.
Through the fence and weeds, you can see the Van Vleet company, which offered to buy the three city lots.
Since when did an appraisal or an estimate of road or building costs become cast in stone. Every road job, equipment purchase cost, or some other cost estimated by the city is never right yet nobody gets fired because it’s wrong. Put the lots up for oral auction with the Van Vleet offer being the starting bid and get rid of the eyesore. I would also ask the council whether they got an appraisal of the Wells Fargo lot before they gave it away. It’s amazing how much the city gives away when one of the insiders wants to it.
Would the City hold out for construction on the sites in order to make money (rom planning and building fees) as opposed to no accounts receivable for a parking lot?
“Van Vleet wants to buy the lots for parking so it can expand its business operations”
One could reasonably assume that means more jobs. Is that what the City is afraid of?
So these geniuses are worried about not getting what they want for it, meanwhile are breaking their own ordinances about maintaining the weeds/grass, wasting maintenance money, and not getting the tax revenue… Got it
Yes, they need to sell the lots. Apparently, the city is broke, after 25 years of CARA which resulted in an empty, but very “cute,” plaza street, so they don’t have money for maintenance of vacant lots or maintenance of anything! Just read an article that Oregon will suffer from a probable collapse of Social Security and Medicare in 2032 more than most other states because of our falling population numbers and our existing residents being elderly to a large degree. I know I’ve complained about the city’s highways and byways with all their weeds, but that isn’t the biggest problem we have.
I drive by there everyday and leaving it alone has decreased the traffic hazards. The city does not have to maintain it and fencing it in has solved many problems. They are such small areas it amazes me that they have spent so much time and money worrying about them. The natural areas are less hectic to drive by and any form of use would increase traffic problems. The few houses there make it a nicer and safer neighborhood. The shelter is the only constant hazard coming off and on 9th. Please stop trying to make into more of a problem area than it is already. It is so much safer to drive through than it was.
We don’t need noxious weed farms.
This spot is NOT a farm. Farms are tended, this lot is not.